NIGHTMARE: Irene Morales was only 17 and working as a sales clerk for American Apparel founder Dov Charney when she says he forced her into years ofsexual abuse.Chad Rachman/New York Post

Dov Charney (Getty Images)

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American Apparel founder Dov Charney forced a teen worker in Chelsea to become his sex slave — and celebrated her 18th birthday by sodomizing her, an explosive new lawsuit charges.

Irene Morales was only 17 and working as a Manhattan sales clerk for the racy teen retailer in 2007 when her dirty-old-man boss slobbered to her that he wanted them to have sex when she turned 18, according to the stunning, $250 million suit filed yesterday in Brooklyn Supreme Court.

Then in April 2008, just after the high-schooler’s birthday, Charney pounced, the suit says.

The alleged lecher — who in the past had been targeted by a slew of sexual-harassment suits — demanded that the beautiful brunette come to his Manhattan apartment, the suit says.

When Morales arrived, Charney answered the door in his underwear — and dragged her inside and forced her to perform oral sex, according to the suit.

Morales was then essentially “held prisoner” in the apartment for several hours, during which time he forced her to perform additional sexual acts, the suit says.

The harassment continued until last summer, when Morales was induced to visit Charney, 42, in Los Angeles and “subjected to extreme psychological abuse and torment,” the suit says.

Finally, “on the verge of a breakdown,” she quit, the suit says.

Morales, the daughter of Venezuelan immigrants, continued toiling at her $10.25-an-hour post because “she needed her job,” said her lawyer, Eric Baum of the Manhattan firm Simon, Eisenberg & Baum.

Morales never went to the cops because she was ashamed and wrongly blamed herself, Baum said.

Bizarrely, American Apparel issued a statement that didn’t specifically dispute the charges but instead focused almost entirely on the fact that when she quit Morales had supposedly signed a document suggesting she couldn’t sue the company.

“We are confident that Ms. Morales’ claims will be promptly referred by the court to binding arbitration . . . [and] resolved fully in favor of the company,” the statement said.